Hanging On for Dear Life

“Sue” was a new professor at a tuition-driven institution. Student retention was an issue that deans and program chairs talked about day in and day out.

One day “Dean Behooves” told Sue that her retention rate for the fall term was too low; he warned her that low retention in the following term would lead to a nonrenewal of her contract. His opinion was that her course requirements were too substantial and that her grading standards were too high. Shaken, Sue pulled out her syllabi and pondered her requirements and grading rubrics. She looked over her fall-semester student evaluations, which were high. Her final grade distributions were consistent with those of her previous teaching experiences. She decided to ask around in the faculty lounge to see what other faculty members thought. One colleague told her that there was a student culture of entitlement, which was directly connected to the drive for retention. The institution’s motto, despite what was written in the catalog, was “Keeping Our Doors Open at Any Cost.” One of those costs was classroom excellence, the colleague said, “But, hey: You have a job, so just lighten up.”

How can new faculty members discern whether the problem indeed lies in their teaching (that can be a valid issue, to be sure) or in the institution’s culture?